Browse related Genres

Blessed with a cheerleader's body, a girl-next-door face, and a drama-club queen's lust for the spotlight, Katy Perry presents herself as a curvy Teenage Dream, the ideal she puts forth on her 2010 sophomore set. Perry doesn't have great ambitions in mind: all she wants is the spotlight, and she'll follow the path of others to get there, raising eyebrows à la Alanis, strutting like Gwen Stefani, and relying on Britney's hitmaker Max Martin for her hooks. There's no question Perry knows all the rules in pop and follows them ...
Read More

Blessed with a cheerleader's body, a girl-next-door face, and a drama-club queen's lust for the spotlight, Katy Perry presents herself as a curvy Teenage Dream, the ideal she puts forth on her 2010 sophomore set. Perry doesn't have great ambitions in mind: all she wants is the spotlight, and she'll follow the path of others to get there, raising eyebrows à la Alanis, strutting like Gwen Stefani, and relying on Britney's hitmaker Max Martin for her hooks. There's no question Perry knows all the rules in pop and follows them to the letter: she never breaks away from the expected lite club beats that transition from day to night without a hitch, or the chilly, stainless steel ballads designed to lose none of their luster on repeat plays. Perry acknowledges some shifting trends -- she salutes Kesha on "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)," replicates Ryan Tedder's glassy robotic alienation on "E.T.," and tellingly avoids ripping off Lady Gaga -- but these are merely accents to her One of the Boys palette. Perry is at her best when she's delivering sleek singles like "Teenage Dream" and "Hummingbird Heartbeat" with efficiency. [The Complete Confection, a 2012 reissue of Teenage Dream, featured three new songs and several remakes, including a version of "E.T" with Kanye West, a version of "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" with Missy Elliott, and an acoustic version of "The One That Got Away," plus a seven-minute Tommy Sunshine megamix of her six chart-topping singles.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
Read Less